Things we lose
by Liz Jean Tonks
Summary: Luna is nine, and she has to watch her mother die.
1. Chapter 1

This is going to include two chapters. I was thinking about making it a One-Shot but I feel like it is better to depart it in two chapters.

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 **Chapter 1**

'Mummy, can I watch? Please?'

Luna looked at her mother pleading, who hesitated. 'Fine, sweetheart, if you do what I say and don't touch anything.'

Luna beamed, and jumped after her mum. 'Once I'm at school,' she said happily, 'people will admire me for you, mum. Who else has a mother with those ideas?'

Mrs Lovegood laughed and poked her daughter, then she pushed the door open and took out her wand, drawing a chair for her daughter.

'There you go,' she said, smiling, 'but please stay in your seat, okay?'

Luna nodded eagerly.

Her mother started arranging some of her ingredients, prepared her couldron and lay her wand on the table, then turned to the closet, searching for something.

The closet was so full, that when you opened it you had to be careful nothing would fall out. Carefully, Luna's mum rearranged some of the glasses, filled with all sorts of herbs; an empty jar fell to the ground, with a loud smash.

'Ops,' she said, still smiling, and reached for her wand.

'Are you experimenting again?,' Luna's dad called from the living room.

Luna's mother quickly evanescoed the shards. 'No!,' she called back, twinkling at her daughter, who started to giggle.

'Now,' Pandora said as she had everything together. 'Luna, this is rather dangerous.'

'Mum, you promised I could watch!'

'I didn't say you couldn't. Anyway, honey, I want you to listen to me very carefully. If something starts getting weird, you get out, okay? You'll go straight to dad, will you?'

Luna nodded, hesitating.

'And if I tell you to leave the room, you will do that immediatley, understand?'

Luna nodded. Her mother told her that plenty of times; always when she was experimenting, Luna had to promise her she'd be reasonable.

'Good girl.' Her mother stroked her hair.

'Mum, what is it you plan to do?'

Her mother smiled. 'It's a surprise. You'll see. I've worked on it for days, and I hope it will work. You will like it.'

Luna beamed and started squirming on her chair in anticipation.

'Get started, then!,' she said.

And she got started.

VVVV

BAM. Luna flinched. There was a big cloud of steam, her mother started to cough. Luna's heart beat faster. This was no good...

'Mummy?,' she whispered. No answer, just a loud cough. And then, Pandora break down on the floor.

Luna got frantic. 'MUM?'

'Out, Luna!,' her mother panted. 'GET TO THE DOOR!'

Luna's legs were trembling as she hurried to the door. 'Mum?,' she said, shaking.

Pandora's voice was quite soft when she spoke. Luna could barely see her through the dust that filled half of the room. 'I love you, Luna.'

Luna swallowed hardly. 'I'll get dad,' she whispered, but didn't move, 'we'll get you to the hospital... They will sort it out...'

'Tell him I love him,' her mother croaked. 'You're a good girl, Luna... the best.'

Luna saw one tear over her mother's face, and then, she turned silent, the coughing ceased, and slowly, she stopped breathing.

'Mum?,' she whispered. 'No, mum, please!'

Luna couldn't move. The steam got more and more, but she didn't care. She started to cry. 'MUM!'

No answer.

'Mum, wake up, please wake up!'

She didn't care about the horrible smell in the room, she ran over to her mother's body, and almost reached it, feeling the sour smoke in her throat, it almost knocked her off her feet, but she didn't care. 'Mum! Wake up! Please!,' she shrieked a last time, a last glimpse on her mother, before she felt getting carried back by the hands of her father. She tried to struggle herself out of his arms, but he held her back.

Luna shouted desperatley, but his father closed the door shut and dragged her out of the house, into the fresh air.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Luna's eyes were glistening with small tears she couldn't explain to herself. Her father had gone into the house,had taken care of the mess and alarmed the ministry.

Two guys wearing uniform passed Luna, who stood in the cold, freezing, and another person came. She knew who that was; it was a healer from Saint Mungo's. But it was too late.

Her mother was dead.

Luna turned away from the house and sat on a stone. She couldn't think. She wasn't sure if she was breathing. She simply didn't care. She couldn't, and wouldn't believe it. This was just another experiment of her mum, and she would come out the house, laughing... She would take Luna's hand and they would make pudding together...

Luna stared at their house, but the door didn't open. But surely, it would... Her mother would be fine... She had always been fine, this wasn't for real. Luna closed her eyes. When she would open them, her mother would be smiling at her. In front of her inner eye, she saw her mother, with her long blond hair and her blue eyes. Luna opened her eyes.

The front door was pushed open. Luna's eyes widened. It wasn't her mother who came out. The healer had conjured a stretcher; it hovered in the air. A blue blanket lay on it; the two wizards in uniform followed the healer and Luna's father. They had taken off their hats and lowered the gaze. Luna watched them slowly.  
She had to realize it, realist, that it was her mother under the blanket, her mother's corpse... Unable to move... Dead...

And slowly, the pain started to spread all over her body. Now she knew where the tears came from.  
She and her mother would never be sharing a laugh. They would never be eating pudding again. Her mother would never smile at her again, her eyes would never look into Luna's.

Pandora Lovegood had passed on.  
VVVV  
'Luna, please.' Her father kneeled next to her. 'Let's get inside.'

Luna shook her head, reluctantly. She wouldn't leave her...

Her father groaned silently and got up. 'I'm in the house,' he said quietly, 'I'll make something for dinner, how would you like that?'

Luna didn't reply. She merely listened to her father's steps that carried him inside the house.

It had been a quiet, private funeral. Only family. They had all left already. Now it was only Luna.

She stared at the tomb. She read her mother's name. It pained her to have to accept something she was reluctant to believe.

It had all been so fast... Them experimenting seemed to be ages ago... And yet, she clearly remembered how her mum had desperately shouted, how there had been all the steam. She would've never thought, had never dared to think, that she was seeing her mother the last time, through the dusty air, her mother panting on the floor, desperate for her daughter to leave the room, to be safe...

Luna had been scared then, surely, but she'd never thought it was really happening... Other things had gone wrong before, and her mother had always fixed them, with a wide smile on her face, and afterwards, they would laugh about the incident, and happily carry on...

Luna's mother had always told her to be careful, to always secure herself, but they had never needed these measures. It had been a lot of fun, being with her mum.  
Now never again. And she hadn't said goodbye properly, she had barely noticed... If she could see her mother once more, just once more.

Maybe, just maybe, if Luna had been faster, she could've alarmed her dad and the healer had been there in time.

Then Luna remembered how her mother had coughed; she had been dead within a minute. The healer had said they were only lucky Luna had been out of the room so quickly, otherwise, the steam might have caught her as well. If only it had been so, or if only her mother had reached the door as quickly as Luna had... They had always done everything together. It was not fair.

A shriek from above made her look into the sky. What she saw startled her for the first second, but then she realized it was only an animal. From down here, it seemed horse-shaped and looked somehow as if it was only existing out of bones, and it had wings. It circled their house once, and then headed for the forest. Luna looked after it, and then got up, slowly.

She should go inside, to her father. They would make it through, together. A last tear landed on the tomb.

Luna would never find out what it was her mother wanted to surprise her with. 

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_So, that's it... Usually I'd say I hope you enjoyed it, but I don't think there is much to enjoy with this topic... Nevertheless, I'd be grateful for a review :)_


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